Broadcast receiver for radio or television signals with storage and interchange of preset stations

Abstract

A broadcast receiver such as a car radio has an electronic tuning circuit and a memory for storing preset stations. The strongest receivable transmitters in the surroundings are searched and stored in the memory by means of an automatic storage program. Subsequently the stored transmitters can be selected in a given sequence by means of successive program keys. To improve convenience of operation, the control circuit in the broadcast receiver further comprises an interchange program 21 so as to interchange the tuning values of preset stations stored in the memory. The stored stations can be subsequently selected by means of the successive program selection keys in a sequence desired by the user.

I claim: 
     
       1. A broadcast receiver for radio or television signals, comprising: a tuning circuit for tuning the receiver to a broadcast transmitter in response to an applied tuning value representing said broadcast transmitter;   a storage medium for storing a plurality of tuning values, each tuning value representing a pre-programmed broadcast transmitter;   an operating panel having a plurality of means for generating selection commands corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of tuning values, and means for generating a storage command; and   a control circuit having means for applying a tuning value of the storage medium corresponding to a selected one of said selection commands generating means to the tuning circuit, and further having means for searching a plurality of locally receivable broadcast transmitters and storing their respective tuning values in said storage medium in response to said storage command, wherein said operating panel further comprises means for generating an interchange command, and the control circuit further comprises means for interchanging a first tuning value in said storage medium selected by a first of said selection commands generating means and a second tuning value in said storage medium selected by a second of said selection commands generating means in response to said interchange command, whereby said first selection commands generating means then corresponds to said second tuning value and said second selection commands generating means corresponds to said first tuning value.   
     
     
       2. A broadcast receiver for radio or television signals as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said first tuning value and said second tuning value in the storage medium are interchanged, when, successively, (1) the first tuning value is selected, (2) the interchange command is generated, and then (3) the second tuning value is selected within a predetermined time after the generation of the interchange command. 
     
     
       3. A broadcast receiver for radio or television signals as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said interchange command is generated by depressing and keeping depressed a key on said operating panel and by releasing said key after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, which is indicated by the occurrence of an auditive or visual signal which is recognizable as such. 
     
     
       4. A broadcast receiver for radio or television signals as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the storage medium is divided into at least two selectable memory banks each for storing at least two tuning values, characterized in that said interchange of two tuning values in response to said interchange command is performed in a selected memory bank.